1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to integrated circuits. More particularly, this invention relates to integrated circuits including a plurality of data processing circuit elements having a variable configuration.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The trend towards higher levels of integration within data processing systems has led to many more data processing circuit elements being included on a single integrated circuit. For example, so called system-on-a-chip integrated circuits may typically include a processor core, on-chip memory, several peripheral devices, timers and the like such that few additional components are required outside of the integrated circuit to make a functioning device. It will be appreciated that there are many possibilities for different data processing circuit elements that may be included within a single integrated circuit and that these data processing data elements may be configured in a variety of different manners to suit the particular device being produced.
At the same time as the trend towards system-on-a-chip designs, there is also a strong desire to reduce the development time for new devices. A significant amount of time in the development of a new device may be expended in writing and testing software, such as, for example, BIOS software, that controls the low-level interaction between the various hardware elements with the specific parameters of a particular system-on-a-chip design. It will be further appreciated that if a mistake is made in the way in which an integrated circuit is configured for manufacture, then this can be extremely expensive to rectify.